Education dept recalls bonus salaries

RAWALPINDI:

The Punjab Education Department has recalled bonus salaries mistakenly paid to 35,000 daily wage teachers as part of their May 2026 stipends.

School teacher interns were overjoyed to see an additional amount credited to their accounts during their summer vacations until the education department declared it a result of an error in their system and ordered the recollection of the excess payments.

According to the letter issued by the department, the May 2026 stipend bills of school teacher interns were processed and the money was transferred to the bank accounts of all interns. It said that as per the approved schedule, all temporary daily wage teachers were only entitled to salaries till May 21, 2026, as summer vacations had started from May 22.

The department clarified that, due to a processing error, all 30,000 school interns had been accidentally paid a full month's stipend for the month of May, resulting in an overpayment for 10 days' salary for the May 22 to 31 period.

The department has directed all concerned offices to collect the excess amount paid to the school interns under their management by June 15 and deposit it in the government treasury.

The daily wage school teachers have expressed their disappointment, saying that none of this was their fault, especially since, this year, the department had decided to give them early holidays by announcing vacations from May 22.

The teachers said that they had already used the additional amount they received to cover Eid expenses and were now worried about how they would be able to return the amount.